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9 years ago

Obama's Jobs Road Show

With unemployment at a 26-year high, the White House shifts its focus from Afghanistan to jobs Thursday as President Obama hosts a summit with business leaders. On Friday, Obama travels to Allentown, Penn., the first stop on his "White House to Main Street" jobs tour. Although only a third of the $787 billion emergency spending bill passed last February has been spent, the White House is wary of plans that would add to the deficit. Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, who is taking part in the summit, disagrees with that stance. Stiglitz says that in the long run, the risks that widespread unemployment poses to the country are greater than the risks of a large deficit. Critics say the summit is about politics, not policy. After all, presidential approval ratings have fallen as unemployment has risen, leading Republicans to blast Obama for what they say are failed economic policies, and Democrats up for reelection next year have already started to worry.